Tag Archives: democracy

Erasing the Black Vote

From the Supreme Court and Congress to State Legislatures, the Right to Vote is Consistently Under Attack

Min. Christian S. Watkins
May 15, 2026

My grandmother had to pay poll taxes after she was granted the right to vote. My mother was a Black Panther and community organizer, who still remembers drinking from separate water fountains while fighting for voting rights. They both taught me that voting is sacred. Not because it is somehow a magical fix, but because it is powerful to participate in our own liberation. It is one of the few tools Black communities have held that those in power have consistently tried to limit.

Every generation has faced new strategies designed to narrow participation while preserving the appearance of fairness, and this is our time to live into that rich legacy of overcoming.

In 2026, those strategies continue with renewed force. With the April 29 Louisiana v. Callais decision, the Supreme Court has further weakened key protections of the Voting Rights Act, opening the door for state legislatures to redraw districts in ways that decimates Black political power and the influence of other communities of color, which they have begun to do with ruthless ferocity.

African American male holding right fist in the air and protest sign in front of U.S. Supreme Court Building

Min. Christian S. Watkins at the “Protect Birthright Citizenship” protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C.

This devastating blow and its fallout, which threatens to wipe out Black representation in Congress and state houses, especially in the South, are only part of the picture. At the same time, Congress has failed to restore protections, even as restrictive voting laws spread across the country. New federal and state-level proposals raise additional concerns.

Efforts to create national “verified voter” systems or impose stricter documentation requirements for registration are framed as security measures. In practice, these “show your papers” policies risk excluding those least likely to have ready access to passports or birth certificates: disproportionately Black, Brown, low-income, and naturalized citizens. These policies—as well as the disastrous Supreme Court decision—do not exist in a vacuum. They reflect longstanding patterns of exclusion dressed in new language.

Voting alone will not solve every injustice, but without it, the communities most affected by injustice are pushed even further from the decisions that shape their lives.

So, the task before us is clear. We must prepare, participate, and protect the vote:

Check and update your voter registration early and help others do the same.
Make a concrete plan to vote—early is preferable, but safely by mail or on Election Day if necessary.
Follow all instructions carefully if voting by mail and return ballots promptly.
Learn your rights and share voter protection resources within your community.
Support election integrity by volunteering as a poll worker or nonpartisan monitor.

These actions are practical, but they are also moral. Catholic Social Teaching reminds us that participation in public life is a form of charity because it shapes the conditions in which people either flourish or struggle. When access to the ballot is restricted, it is not just a procedural issue—it is a wound to human dignity and the common good.

Diverse group of faith leaders holding protest signs and in "selfie" style at a protest.

Min. Christian S. Watkins (right) and fellow faith leaders at the “Faithful Resistance” protest in Washington D.C.

Voting is not the whole of democracy, but it is one of its load-bearing walls. Without it, accountability weakens and exclusion deepens. With it, we create the possibility—however imperfect—of a more just and inclusive society.

In my own work, and in the mission of NETWORK, voting rights remain central because they sit at the intersection of so many struggles—racial justice, economic equity, and the fight against concentrated power. I carry both the weight of history and the hope of my faith: that every person is endowed with dignity and has a rightful voice in shaping our shared future.

The question before us is not simply whether we will vote. It is whether we will defend the conditions that make voting meaningful for everyone. That work requires persistence, solidarity, and a refusal to accept disenfranchisement as inevitable.

Min. Christian S. Watkins is NETWORK’s Senior Government Relations Advocate.

Our Map to a Better World

The Common Good Can Guide Us When All Feels Uncertain

Laurie Carafone
May 13, 2026

Laurie Carafone

As we weather the daily barrage of cruel and chaotic news defining our current politics and culture — war, family separations, economic chaos, and more — it’s easy to feel lost, and it can be hard to see a clear path forward. We all yearn to get to a better place.

What will it mean for people of faith and goodwill to engage genuinely and meaningfully with the myriad social and moral issues — some would say crises — as we approach the midterm elections? Listening and dialoguing with NETWORK colleagues, the road that rises to meet our feet is both awe-inspiring and daunting. But we trust it leads to a better place, a future where everyone is caring and cared for.

Catholic Social Justice proclaims a world where every human need is inextricably entwined, weaving a stunning tapestry of human thriving: affordable health care, food, and housing; living wages; a healthy planet; and just and humane treatment of our neighbors. These issues are at the core of NETWORK’s “An Economy for All” policy agenda, but many U.S. Catholics aren’t fully aware of the rich treasure of the tradition more formally known as Catholic Social Teaching.

Some call it a well-kept secret, but this body of teaching offers a map we can use with confidence toward a better world — we can follow its wise tenets to inform how we engage in times like these. How are we called to witness and take action together in the public square? Catholic Social Justice is not a theory or an intellectual exercise, but rather a blessedly simple and clear map of how people of faith are called to live the Gospel in our world — even for those of us who can’t read a map! It can save our lives.

A woman with short hair and glasses speaks at a podium; a quote about Catholic Social Justice and midterm elections appears beside her on a colorful background.

NETWORK’s Executive Director, Laurie Carafone speaking at the Multi-Faith Earth Day celebration.

When Catholic Social Justice is not centered in political or daily life, even believers may vote like so many of us do: along predictable party lines. Centering Catholic Social Justice helps us pause and consider candidates’ positions: will they support laws that alleviate poverty and increase access to health care and housing? Or will the candidate support measures that push these basic essentials even more out of reach for our families and communities?

This year marks the 40th anniversary of “Economic Justice for All,” the landmark pastoral letter by the U.S. bishops on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. economy, including poverty, unemployment, and hunger. Reading the signs of their times, the bishops noted:

“Many middle-class Americans feel themselves in the grip of economic demands and cultural pressures that go far beyond the individual family’s capacity to cope.” (paragraph 23) Revisiting the letter is an opportunity for many people—not just Catholics—to connect anew with the tenets of Catholic Social Justice and how they can guide our actions to ensure the common good.

Forty years after the letter was issued, we know that most families can no longer live on a single income, often struggling even with two. We also recognize that some business and government leaders keep finding more immoral and devastating ways to burden working people, all to line their own pockets and advance corrupt and anti-democratic purposes.

But we can find stillness in this chaos. We have the power to speak the truth: that wealth and profit need not be at the center of our world. Building the common good can and should be.

A collection of images showing people of different backgrounds holding signs, conveying powerful messages and unity.

NETWORK advocates at multi-state “We The People” mini-rally events

As we live out these convictions, our Spirit-filled field has been busy at work, visiting their legislators with the 2025 NETWORK Voting Record, having hard conversations, and showing lawmakers the powerful map we hold — and asking them to come with us.

These personal encounters are leading to connections, encouragement, and accountability. Catholic Social Justice inspires us to advocate fiercely now and into the coming months as we approach the midterm elections. Through the murky fog of lies, disappointment, cruelty, and corruption, we can follow our map, trust each step, and walk toward the light of that better place.

Together, we will find our way home.

Laurie Carafone, J.D., ThM, is Executive Director of NETWORK. This “Spirited Sisters” column originally appeared in the Quarter 2 2026 issue of NETWORK’s Connection magazine.

Feast or Fascism

Authoritarian and Economic Oppression Perpetuate One Another, and Catholic Social Justice Offers the Antidote

NETWORK Executive Director Laurie Carafone stands with NETWORK Fellow Ralph McCloud at the October 30 People’s Pantry event in front of the USDA in Washington. NETWORK, Federal Unionist Network, Indivisible, and Free DC sponsored the event in solidarity with federal employees and people across the country who are suffering.

Don Clemmer
March 10, 2026

The first year of the second Trump administration saw an alarming abandonment of the traditional checks and balances that have guarded against the descent of U.S. democracy into an authoritarian state. These included brazenly illegal acts by the executive branch with no oversight or accountability; aggressively cruel immigration enforcement designed to strike terror in communities; targeted prosecutions of President Trump’s political adversaries; and countless other offenses.

But alongside these horrors, another factor surfaced time and again: the economic oppression that accompanies the corruption and intentional inequity of an authoritarian regime. Whether it’s the shutdown of USAID, trillions in tax cuts for the ultra–wealthy while gutting food and healthcare programs from the federal budget, or the invasion of a sovereign country while openly planning to harvest its oil reserves, the consolidation of absolute power is both a cause and effect of the stratospheric divide between the ultra-rich and everyone else.

“We’re in big trouble,” Pope Leo said about the prospect of Elon Musk becoming the world’s first trillionaire. Following the stunning election of a U.S.–born pope, the first major teaching document from Pope Leo XIV focused on love for people impacted by poverty. In that document, Dilexi Te, the pope cites the words of Pope Francis about economic inequity: “A new tyranny is being born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules.”

‘Made poor’

“Almost all people in the U.S. have experienced dehumanization from our nation’s current systems of community–harming oppression. Their main tools are fear, scarcity, and isolation,” says NETWORK Executive Director Laurie Carafone. She notes that the right–wing media ecosystem pushes narratives promoting resource hoarding, hatred, racism, sexism, and xenophobia. The cultural fallout has been predictably disastrous.

Jennifer Stallbaumer-Rouyer

“We are made poor when we no longer see our neighbor as ourselves; when we no longer allow ourselves to be open to seeing our own poverty and when we physically isolate those society identifies as materially poor,” says says Jennifer Stallbaumer–Rouyer, a social worker and NETWORK advocate in Kansas City, Missouri. “When we look behind this person, however, we see an entire system that perpetuates poverty and the lies that accompany it.”

“Most troubling to me is the obvious effort to demonize immigrants,” says Sr. Beatrice Haines, OLVM, based in Hungtington, Indiana. She sees this as a clear “effort to disparage people of color and create an ‘us versus them’ situation. ‘They then are perceived as the cause of my economic situation.” She cites the passage of the GOP’s “Big Bad Budget Bill” as one bitter fruit of this narrative.

NETWORK Fellow Ralph McCloud, who led the Catholic Campaign for Human Development—the U.S. bishops’ domestic anti–poverty program—for 16 years, has encountered attitudes against marginalized communities and sees clearly how they manifest in U.S. politics.

“There is the temptation that God intends for people to be poor, minorities to be separate, wars to happen, famine to exist, and that it is all happening because it is God’s will and there is nothing that can be done. So we live in apathy, despair, and, in some cases, pious and devout glee.”

“Almost all people in the U.S. have experienced dehumanization from
our nation’s current systems of community–harming oppression.”
-Laurie Carafone, NETWORK Executive Director

Letting these attitudes fester in politics and culture, McCloud says, directly led to the erosion of the foundational systems of U.S. democracy.

“We neglected to recognize that our systems are so fragile that without intentional and deliberate care, authoritarian and selfish stakeholders can attack them and strategically place themselves in positions of power that can destroy decades of progress and erase significant gains.”

The pope and some hope

As the leading American voice providing a moral vision on the world stage, Pope Leo offers hope with his witness and a critique of the ideas that have enabled the dangerous state of his
home country’s political moment.

“At a time when we see a rise in Christian nationalist sentiment in the U.S. and we are seeing domestic hunger and the number of people who can no longer afford healthcare increase … it is crucial that a clear moral teaching about poverty come from the highest authority in the church,” says Lexington, Kentucky Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv. “Our English–speaking pope has provided a document … with crystal clarity for American readers that asserts … that indifference to people in need anywhere in the world is contrary to our faith.”

Perhaps most crucially, Pope Leo directly takes on the economic philosophies that have led this government to abdicate its responsibility to promote the thriving of all people through policy.

“At times, pseudo–scientific data are invoked to support the claim that a free market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty,” the pope writes in Dilexi Te. He adds, “[A]lmsgiving does not absolve the competent authorities of their responsibilities, eliminate the duty of government institutions to care for the poor, or detract from rightful efforts to ensure justice.”

Committing U.S. politics to a sense of the common good and universal solidarity, necessary to defeating an authoritarian regime, requires the same actions as taking on fascism directly.

“Countering all this destruction fueled by fear, scapegoating, and isolation requires real efforts to forge strong community,” says Carafone.

Rooted in her community, Stallbaumer–Rouyer hasn’t given up on the prospect of recovering a better politics.

“I have hope for re–imagining something different that can be forged out of recognition, repentance, reconciliation, and solidarity. This work is a marathon, not a sprint,” she says. “If we look beyond ourselves and our given situation, we might just see a flash of abundance, not scarcity. We will see that we are all in need of care and filling up.”

This story was originally published in the Quarter 1 2026 issue of Connection.

Meeting This Moral Moment

The Stakes for Our Democracy Will Demand What NETWORK Has to Offer

Laurie Carafone
February 27, 2026

Last year was an unimaginably tough year for anyone who loves and cherishes the promise of an inclusive and pluralistic democracy, as the U.S. has at different times aspired to be. We experienced a daily deluge of immoral, racist, and oppressive government actions, unleashed
by an administration whose recklessness and cruel policy agenda are an assault on the values that NETWORK and justice–seekers everywhere hold dear.

We are living history, and the NETWORK community must—and will—meet the moment in 2026. We are clear–eyed and speak the truth of what is happening: the Trump administration is rapidly consolidating authoritarian power to shamelessly enrich themselves and the corporations and billionaires who bend the knee and take from the people.

The three branches of our government are meant to ensure a check on executive power. But Congress and the Supreme Court are allowing unchecked presidential power to drag our
country toward dictatorship. We know there is another way. With a functioning democracy, we can and will have the collective capacity to achieve policies that support ourselves, our
families, and our communities so that everyone can thrive.

NETWORK is reading the signs of the times and knows the stakes. Our north star is—and has been for a half century—our foundresses’ mission to effect federal policy change for the common good. This advocacy can only continue to be effective if we have a functioning democracy, one where lawmakers are responsive to the people—including our community of advocates—rather than to an authoritarian leader.

Our work in 2026 cannot be business as usual. We need to do our part to save democracy with a focus on power building, policy impacts, voter engagement, free and fair elections, and a
peaceful transition of power. If we lose our democracy to dictatorship, we lose the conditions necessary for NETWORK to do our sacred work for good. With all of you, we will meet this
existential moment.

We know we are prepared because of all you have shownup over and over again for justice. Throughout last year’s chaos, you, our NETWORK community, responded with clarity and
resolve. You are a wise, outspoken, and emphatic moral voice with the proven integrity and expertise that so many people in our country rely on and trust. At every turn, you met this moral moment — advocating for policies that protect human dignity, organizing and accompanying members of your community, amplifying our Spirit–filled message, and directly supporting and sustaining us in our work.

There is much to do in this midterm election year, with so much at stake for our issues and our democracy. The poet Mary Oliver, in her poem “The Summer Day,” writes, “Tell me, what else should I have done?… Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

At NETWORK, we are going to make the most of our lives in 2026, together. We will not do anything alone — it will take many people and organizations doing their own part to succeed. But we must do our part with a clear understanding of our gifts and goals. So what is ours to do as NETWORK?

First, we need to reach more Catholics — calling in all who value living in a free society, no matter what other policy positions or beliefs we hold. We need to communicate clearly and effectively, grounding our work in the Catholic Social Justice teaching that undergirds all of NETWORK’s values.

Second, we need to strengthen our advocacy effectiveness to respond to this unique moment. We will need to train and focus our advocates on strategic actions essential to preserving
democracy.

Third, we need to continue our core issues advocacy. It is critical that we keep this going so that we can pressure lawmakers to stave off further harm and prepare the way for gains we can make when we have a functioning three-branch government.

We know that our country needs what NETWORK has to offer—not only our advocacy, but the vision of universal human thriving that our policy agenda offers. These are the gifts we offer now, at this moral moment. Thank you for being an essential part of this community, contributing in whatever way is right for you. We are in this together.

Laurie Carafone is Executive Director of NETWORK. This “Spirited Sisters” column originally appeared in the Quarter 1 2026 issue of NETWORK’s Connection magazine.

Lent’s ‘Crosses of Resistance’ — Voting Rights

Ash Wednesday is a Call To Resist the Trampling of Voting Rights

Min. Christian S. Watkins
February 18, 2026

Lent begins with the smudge of ash on our brows and the whispered truth: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” In that stark confession, the Church names both our fragility and our belovedness before God.

Yet while Christians prepare to walk this 40-day road of repentance and renewal, congressional Republicans are advancing a different kind of mark, one that would brand millions of citizens at the ballot box. Two bills, the Senate’s SAVE America Act (S.3752) and the House’s Make Election Great Again (MEGA) Act (H.R.7300), carry on the egregious legacy of the stalled SAVE Act (H.R.22) and its promotion of a “show your papers” regime.

These bills force eligible voters to present proof of citizenship in person to register to vote, update their registration, and in some cases even to cast a ballot. This functionally eliminates online and mail-in registration and sabotages voter registration drives.

More info: How the SAVE Act would disenfranchise rural voters (Center for American Progress)

The House’s MEGA Act also piles on restrictive photo ID requirements, bans universal vote-by-mail, and mandates aggressive voter roll purges every 30 days, ending long-standing protections against last-minute disenfranchisement. This would hand the federal government sweeping power to decide which citizens get to participate in our democracy.

Catholic Social Teaching names participation in public life, including voting, as a moral duty flowing from the dignity of the human person and our call to the common good. Any law that weaponizes bureaucracy against people in poverty, the young, Black and brown communities, and those without stable housing stands in direct opposition to that duty.

During Lent, the prophets condemn those “who trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land.” The SAVE 2.0 and MEGA Acts are part of a coordinated effort to trample voting itself. This is not about preventing the rare noncitizen vote; it is about manufacturing distrust so that a shrinking minority can cling to power.

We have seen the Trump administration escalating demands for sensitive voter data—including a push tied to the atrocities carried out in Minnesota—while federal law enforcement has targeted election records in Fulton County, Georgia.

The Gospel calls us to repent of the country’s long history of racist voter suppression, to organize, accompany, and advocate so that every eligible neighbor can vote without fear or unnecessary obstacle. This is as important as feeding the hungry or visiting the incarcerated person.

The ballot is not a perk for the well-resourced. It is part of the dignity of the human person in public life – a way for our leaders and policies to represent us. When lawmakers criminalize paperwork mistakes, punish election officials for doing their jobs, and build systems that block working people, elders, students, disabled voters, and low-income families, they are not strengthening democracy.

As we journey toward Easter, we proclaim a crucified and risen Christ who breaks chains, not ballots; who opens doors, not shutters them; who pours out the Spirit so that every voice can testify. Will we consent to new crosses laid upon the backs of the poor in the voting booth, or will we shoulder the cross of resistance and insist that our laws reflect God’s liberating love?

Take Action with NETWORK: Help us resist legislation that denies voting rights to all eligible voters. Call your Senators and let them know that these bills must not pass! Call this number: (202) 915-4877.

Min. Christian S. Watkins is NETWORK’s Senior Government Relations Advocate.

Protecting Our Vote Protects Our Future

It’s Time to Look Toward Midterm Elections, Where the Real Work Toward Preserving and Protecting Democracy Happens

Mia Lazo
November 5, 2025

With the 2025 off-year elections behind us and the 2026 midterm elections just one year away, it’s a good time to start looking ahead to next year’s election.

It may be easy to dismiss midterm elections as less important than presidential elections. But midterms are where so much of the real work of democracy happens. Governors, senators, representatives, mayors, and local officials all make decisions that ripple through our daily lives. Whether it is health care, education, housing, or infrastructure, these choices impact us directly.

Mia Lazo

Today, threats to voting are real, starting with barriers to voter registration.

Voter registration is more than paperwork; it is a vital first step toward protecting our democracy and building the common good. The common good depends on broad participation. When more of us are registered and engaged, government decisions reflect the needs of the many, not just of the wealthy or politically powerful.

But there are constant efforts to impose burdensome identification requirements to voter registration being proposed by the President, members of Congress, state legislatures, and before regulatory agencies. The single demand of requiring U.S. citizens to show in person a birth certificate, passport, or other document proving citizenship when they register or re-register to vote could bar from voting as many as 21 million U.S. citizens who don’t have these documents readily available. This attacks women, Immigrants, those affected by weather disasters, working people, and those living in rural communities.

Even more troubling, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently banned registering new voters at citizenship ceremonies, a time when new Americans should be most welcomed into democratic life. Add to that the growing restrictions on mail-in ballots, such as reduced drop boxes and stricter ID requirements, and you see the trend: Some of our lawmakers protect the elite by making it harder for so many of us to exercise our basic right to vote.

My family has our own story of what can happen when We the People don’t have a say in our own future. My parents fled to the U.S. to escape the oppressive and corrupt Marcos dictatorship of the Philippines. In 2022, the son of the former dictator was elected president, as the wealthy wanted to protect their interests. While billions of pesos went into fraudulent infrastructure projects, cities living without infrastructure continued to suffer devastating floods. Typhoons damaged farms, roads, and other infrastructure, affecting nearly 907,000 families, or more than 3.4 million people (about the population of Oklahoma). With landslides, flashfloods, electrocution, and drownings, communities saw their homes washed away while those in power enriched the pockets of their billionaire friends. This kind of corruption does not happen in a vacuum; it thrives when leaders face little accountability and when citizens are too discouraged to demand better.

The same risks exist here in the United States. When fewer people vote, including in midterms, entrenched politicians have more room to cater to their donors rather than the communities they represent. Just as Filipino citizens watch their tax dollars vanish into the pockets of the elite, people in the U.S. face leaders who prioritize corporate lobbyists over working families. The connecting thread is clear: Unchecked political power always bends toward self-interest. Voting is how we check it.

Democracy does not collapse in one dramatic moment; it unravels slowly when people disengage, when voters participation falls, and when power ends up in the hands of wealthy elites able to buy figureheads and power centers in the government. By the time citizens realize what they’ve lost, it can be too late.

In Venezuela, democratic institutions were slowly hollowed out, one law and one election at a time. Leaders stacked the courts with loyalists, rewrote the constitution to expand executive power, and silenced opposition through censorship, harassment, and arrests. Elections became hollow performances to legitimize those already in power. The cost to ordinary citizens has been catastrophic. A country once among the wealthiest in South America now suffers from hyperinflation, poverty, and chronic shortages of food, medicine, and electricity. Millions have fled in search of stability, and those who remain endure long lines for basic goods, while corrupt elites live in luxury.

Here in the United States, we still have the tools to prevent that fate. Tanks in the streets may grab headlines, but the quieter erosion of voting rights is the greater danger. That is why registering now to vote for the 2026 midterms matters. Government leaders already line the pockets of their wealthy friends through tax cuts. But every voter registration represents a person who is ready to hold people in power accountable. Every ballot cast is a reminder that this country belongs to all of us, not just the privileged few.

The example of the Philippines shows us what happens when corruption goes unchecked. My family back home knows it more than anyone else. Venezuela reminds us how quickly democracy can unravel. But the U.S. has a chance to choose differently if we show up. So, please check your voter registration, start thinking about your voting plan for next November, and encourage your loved ones, your colleagues, your neighbors, and even the barista who makes your coffee to do the same.

Visit vote411.org to register to vote, check your registration status, and more.

Mia Lazo is an environmental studies major at Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles and a Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L).

Hispanic Heritage Promotes Democracy and Dignity

My Responsibility is to Help Build a Future Where We All Have a Share in the Decisions That Shape Our Destiny

Jonathan Alcantara
October 6, 2025

For Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), NETWORK’s Sr. Carol Coston Fellows share their thoughts on the importance of this observance in the U.S. The following is Part 2 of a two-part reflection by Jonathan Alcantara of Marquette University. (Read Part 1.)

Jonathan Alcantara

In addition to undeniable economic and cultural contributions, the Latino community also participates powerfully in the democratic process. In particular, young Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic of voters, and our voices will shape the future elections. However, targeted voter suppression tactics like disinformation and misinformation, lack of access to absentee ballots, limited early voting, and bans on students using their school IDs at the polls continue to create barriers for young Latino voters.

So, over the past two years, I’ve served as a Sr. Carol Coston Fellow, working with other students and young adults in Wisconsin and across the country to foster a safe environment for civic engagement and support voter registration on our campuses. All of the meaningful conversations I’ve had with my peers on campus and with community leaders show and remind me that our democracy is stronger when we all participate and a lot weaker when we’re separated and pushed out.

Despite the inequalities, political tensions, and fearmongering, our lucha and resilience still define us. Across the nation this month, Latino communities are finding ways to gather and celebrate their heritage while navigating their fears. In cities like Chicago, Madison, and Appleton, Wisconsin, festivals celebrate with live music, dances, and traditional food. They also have workshops and representatives talking about healthcare, business inclusion, and professional leadership.

However, many events have scaled back and have even been postponed because of the possibility of immigration raids, but one thing’s for certain, seguimos unidos y en solidaridad, no matter the obstacles. Our culture is still alive not only in the happy moments but also in times when we must pivot, adapt, and continue showing up for one another through advocacy.

What ties all of this together is the set of values that go with the Latino community. We strongly believe in familia, dignidad, and oportunidad, which are values that anyone, regardless of their background and what they look like, can recognize as important. My Catholic faith reminds me that these are more than just cultural values; they are moral truths: that every person is made in the Imago Dei and deserves respect, freedom, and the chance to grow and thrive, no exceptions. In our faith, we say, cada persona es hijo de Dios, every person is a child of God. And that truth calls us to treat every person with the same dignity and respect.

Looking ahead, I see a hopeful future where our cultura is not only honored by others but fully integrated into the story of this country. A future where Latino students, like me, succeed in college without the barriers that are currently holding us back, where workers earn livable wages that match their contributions to our country, where families can live without the fear of leaving their house for five minutes, and where our voices are fully recognized in the public.

This vision is attainable, and this is why Hispanic Heritage Month matters. Is it about honoring culture? Yes. But it’s also about defending human dignity, expanding and growing economic opportunity, and strengthening our democracy. For me, Hispanic Heritage Month is both personal and shared. This month calls me to remember the resilience of those who came before me and to act with the knowledge of my responsibility for those who will come after me.

This month, I celebrate my heritage not only by remembering the past but by helping build a future where every family, Latino or not, can live, work, and thrive con fe, esperanza y orgullo, no exceptions.

Learn more about NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L).

We Must Help Folks to Vote

National Voter Registration Day Reminds Us That This Land is Our Land

Theresa Lindberg
September 16, 2025

Theresa Lindberg

I love folk music. My love first started in elementary school when my teacher played “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie. With his simple melody and distinct tune, Woody galvanized the country with each line. His unifying message resonated with Americans, becoming an anthem for many Americans who felt the government wasn’t representing their interests.

I think Woody knew something we all struggle to believe now: that we have collective power as people. But billionaires make this hard to believe when they are allowed almost entirely to fund political campaigns. After all, our elected officials are meant to represent us, not the top one percent, right? It’s important to keep this in mind on National Voter Registration Day (September 16).

No matter the amount of money in our bank account, we all value the freedom to choose our elected officials. But some politicians are supporting undemocratic legislation that favors their own interests over those of their constituents. Here’s the issue: our government system has become increasingly unresponsive to the needs of the people to win favor with the top one percent.

With increasing numbers of voter registration forms going missing, lost absentee ballots, and the consideration of restrictive voting bills like the SAVE Act, more marginalized groups, including rural communities, Black and Brown voters, folks with disabilities, and elderly people, are targeted. We all want to live in a world where each of these voices, including our own, is equally valued.

I saw this play out myself last fall when I helped register several hundred people to vote on my campus community here in Milwaukee. I had countless conversations with students and other community members who all said the same thing: registering to vote feels impossible.

And getting to the polls? Even harder. In the case of my friend Grace, we mailed in her request for an absentee ballot three months before the November 5 election and followed up with local election offices, calling the county clerk in both Milwaukee and Appleton.

She never received her ballot. I ended up driving her four hours round-trip so she could vote in person instead. But what would she have done without access to a friend’s car?

Unfortunately, due to the poor organization of absentee ballots and state laws that varied in their restrictions, many eligible voters were prevented from registering and blocked from the polls.

My belief in Catholic Social Justice teaching inspired me to serve as a voting rights advocate last fall. Whether we are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Sikh, people of faith value representative democracy. We know what’s happening is wrong, but together we can protect our right to representation.

I especially like this line in Woody Guthrie’s song, “this land was made for you and me”. Together, we can protect our right to vote! Today, on National Voter Registration Day, let’s remind each other to get registered and to make it to the polls in November. By doing so, we continue to build the beloved community where our shared values are at the center.

So, this National Voter Registration Day, put on some Woody Guthrie or your favorite folk singer and do your part. Call a friend to catch up and ask if they are registered! Have you changed addresses recently? Check your own status; it might have changed. And don’t forget our power as a collective. After all, this land is your land, and this land is my land.

Theresa Lindberg is a student at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee and a returning Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.).

Forfeit Not Your Soul

Authoritarian Takeover of DC is a Crisis for Racial Justice and Democracy

Min. Christian S. Watkins
August 29, 2025

As I stood and bore witness to the Braddock’s Rock unhoused encampment behind the U.S. Institute for Peace of all places, I held a sign that read “What’s This Cost You? Mark 8:36,” referencing Jesus’ question: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Concerned clergy and service provider staff convened on August 14 to assisted unhoused neighbors as they relocated. In doing so, we witnessed the crime of Christ being evicted – a violation of our sacred call to care for all people.

In recent weeks, the poorest residents of the city of Washington, D.C.—the heart of U.S. democracy—are being disappeared from our communities: tents torn down and belongings discarded, communities of resilient survival scattered like dust in the wind.

Clergy and service provider staff gather as the Braddock's Rock unhoused encampment is cleared on Aug. 14.

Min. Christian S. Watkins, (second from left) of the NETWORK Government Relations Team joins other clergy and service provider staff as the Braddock’s Rock homeless encampment is cleared on Aug. 14. The move came as part of President Trump’s militarized takeover of Washington, D.C.

And it didn’t stop there. After President Trump issued the Executive Order, collaborating law enforcement agencies intentionally targeted Black and Brown youth navigating the Metro and traversing D.C.’s streets working to deliver food.

The Trump administration wielded emergency powers to unnecessarily federalize the Metropolitan Police Department, deploying National Guard troops and slowly dismantling our sanctuary protections. They initially targeted our unhoused neighbors but soon expanded their scope to hyper-militarize and surveil Black and Brown youth and communities with merciless force. This naked display of power is sinful. God says, “Woe to those who trample on the poor.” (Amos 5:11)

With President Trump naming only cities with Black mayors for future militarized takeover, it is clear that this is all a manufactured assault on Black political power – as well as a rehearsal for broader authoritarianism to envelop our country. This would decimate our collective future built on Constitutional aspirations and promises.

This unneeded hyper-militarization of a peaceful city is designed to send an authoritarian message rather than address any legitimate community needs. Rather than nurture democracy and the systemically disenfranchised, this misguided show of force is a distraction, a calculated attempt to shift the nation’s gaze away from far more dire crises:

Skyrocketing inflation and the international devaluation of the U.S. dollar, which erodes working families’ purchasing power.
Administration ineptitude and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) failures, which leaves core agencies leaderless and ineffective, costing taxpayers more than the agency ever purported to strive to save.
Cratering political support at home and abroad, as allies question America’s stability and credibility as a world leader, much less a moral authority.

When leaders are cornered by their own failings, they often reach for the oldest tool in the autocrat’s playbook: stoke fear, unleash the military, and change the subject. This takeover is not happening in a vacuum. It is fueled by a Christian nationalist ideology that seeks to merge political power with a narrow, exclusionary version of Christianity.

True Christian witness calls us to loving service grounded in humility and justice lending to liberation, not to bless state power when it tramples our neighbors, the people Christ admonished us to protect, serve, and defend and the integrity of the Church. If we do not name and resist it, we risk turning the cross of Christ into a banner for empire.

As people of faith and moral courage, we MUST resist.

Catholics and faithful allies committed to the common good know you cannot speak of justice when local police accountability is replaced by federal chains of command that answer political power, not community needs. You cannot claim security while criminalizing poverty and erasing the humanity of the unhoused.

True justice cannot be militaristic or top down. It must be rooted in restorative, community-based care. The federalized, militarized response fractures trust and undermines local accountability. Faithful communities must speak truth to power.

Why We Need An Economy for All

Despite Major Setbacks Under the Trump Administration,
the Vision of a Better Tomorrow is Clear as Ever

Jane Sutter
Second Quarter 2025

Just five days before the inauguration of President Trump, NETWORK unveiled its An Economy for All policy agenda in a webinar that attracted more than 2,100 registrants. The agenda demands that elected leaders deliver what our communities need to thrive:

Jobs with paid leave and wages that cover our bills, retirement, and more
Affordable housing, food, and health care
Safe and welcoming neighborhoods
Clean air and water
A just tax code that ensures the wealthy pay their fair share
A just and humane immigration system
A politics responsive to the people, not the money

Joan F. Neal, NETWORK Interim Executive Director, speaks at an Ash Wednesday prayer service calling for a compassionate federal budget, March 5 on Capitol Hill.
Photo: Catherine Gillette

In introducing the agenda, NETWORK Interim Executive Director Joan F. Neal noted, “We all recognize that these are challenging times for our country. Our democracy, our vision of a free, diverse, inclusive, pluralistic country is on the line, starting now.”

The challenging times became even more apparent as Trump enacted his “shock and awe” campaign and the House of Representatives narrowly passed its budget plan on Feb. 25 that extends previous tax cuts to billionaires and threatens to undo important safety net programs.

As the drama unfolded in Washington, NETWORK friends and collaborators witnessed the implications for their work on the ground.

Politics responsive to the people

When Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER Interfaith, talks about activism,

Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER
Interfaith, participates in an Oct. 1 roundtable discussion in Allentown, Pa. During the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

he quotes Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s exhortation of “the fierce urgency of now.”

A multi-regional, multi-faith, multi-class, multi-generational movement, building politically progressive organizations and working with more than 400 congregations in the Philadelphia area, the Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania, POWER’s focus is on local and state issues (wages, equitable school funding, renewable energy, and more). However, Edwards calls proposals at the federal level “disastrous, [and] at the same time it’s also a distraction because people are panicking.”

What citizens need from the federal government, said Edwards, is a higher minimum wage and access to quality and affordable health care, housing, and schools.
“What we know to be true is that things only change when people, ordinary people, actually begin to organize and lift up their voices and not only vote but are able to, by the thousands, move their legislators…to a position that is in their own best interests, regardless of who’s in the White House.”

A just tax code

Tax policy expert Sarah Christopherson traveled with Nuns on the Bus & Friends “Vote Our Future” tour this past fall. She delivered a strong message: “Never let anyone tell you that we can’t afford to take care of our people, that we can’t afford to feed the hungry, that we can’t afford to have a good education for our children, that we can’t afford to get homes and have living wages, because there is so much money untaxed right now, and some of it will never go taxed, among the billionaire class.”

Sarah Christopherson is a tax justice advocate, seen here on the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

Christopherson points out that there are 815 people in the U.S. who are billionaires (according to an analysis of Forbes magazine data). “They are collectively worth six trillion dollars. You could tax them and still leave each one of them with a billion dollars and simultaneously have universal pre-K, have free school lunch, have full Medicaid coverage…It’s phenomenal what you could do, and they would still be billionaires.”

Christopherson describes how Republicans in Congress seek to renew tax for the ultra-rich and pay for them with cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, education, and health care subsidies and the threat of not curtailing the excess hoarding of wealth.

Protect people seeking asylum

At the Kino Border Initiative’s (KBI) Migrant Outreach Center in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, staff and asylum seekers quickly saw the effects of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration measures. About 270,000 people who had registered for appointments at a Port of Entry to the United States were stranded in Mexico, according to statistics compiled by the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights advocacy organization.

Sr. Maria Engracia Robles, ME, of Kino Border Institute signs the Bus during the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends site visit to the U.S-Mexico Border. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

KBI offers meals, shelter, clothing, legal and psychological assistance, and more. KBI Feedback Coordinator Sr. Maria Engracia Robles, ME, said through an interpreter, “All those Americans who have a good heart should understand the migrants in the U.S. are not criminals.” They are working in jobs such as agriculture, jobs that American citizens don’t want to do. “They are people of faith, they are working people.”

The reasons for migration have changed in recent years, Sr. Engracia said. Formerly, most migrants were seeking employment in the U.S. In recent years, migrants are families fleeing from violence or persecution. Despite recent events, the center’s clients remain hopeful, Sr. Engracia said. “They are hopefully waiting, God improves their lives,” and waiting patiently. “They are very sad but very strong at the same time.”

Jobs with fair wages

With the new Administration and Congress, Ani Halasz is greatly concerned that workers will struggle even more to make ends meet. Halasz is executive director at Long Island Jobs with Justice (LIJWJ), which works with labor unions, faithbased and other organizations, and activists to create living wage jobs, support worker organizing, and demand corporate accountability. The group’s mission aligns with NETWORK’s 2025 agenda – building an economy that works for all.

“We’ve known for a really long time that wealth inequality was destabilizing for democracies, but it didn’t feel urgent. … Now we’re to the point that you can’t deny it anymore.”

A top concern for Halasz is the status of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In January, Trump fired the only female board member, leaving the board without a quorum. In February, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced the shuttering of regional NLRB offices. The move will “make it almost impossible for us to protect the rights of workers in the future,” Halasz said. “It will be increasingly hard for workers to organize labor unions, because there won’t be an agency overseeing that, there won’t be a federal act protecting workers’ rights to organize.”

Other threats include a chilling effect on workers coming forward about wage theft and other exploitation, as well as Medicaid requirements that impose work requirements and exclude many immigrants.

“What we’re seeing happening right now in this country is the rolling back of almost every protection in this country that we fought for.”

Clean air and water

When Curtis Da’Von meets with citizens, his goal is to help them understand how things are connected between our environment and our everyday experiences. As part of his work as Southwest Pennsylvania Organizing Director for Clean Water Action, a national organization, he educates the community—including who have lost a loved one to violence—about the dangers of environmental lead on children and its connection to behavioral and developmental problems.

Curtis Da’Von of Clean Water Action gets a selfie with the Bus at the Oct. 5, 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends rally in Pittsburgh. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

“So often in communities of color, there’s issues of high violence and crime. So you can start to connect the dots,” he says. “You can literally look at a map and areas that are high in lead are high in crime.”

The Pittsburgh area, where Da’Von works, already lacks enough government funding to cover the needs to remove lead from homes. Funding cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency further jeopardize their work.

Staying hopeful

Pope Francis’s exhortation that people be “Pilgrims of Hope” in this jubilee year has become a rallying cry for NETWORK and its volunteers. As Neal expressed to webinar attendees, “Let us be inspired to move to action, and as we do, let us call upon the God we know we can depend upon to carry us through today, tomorrow, and however long it takes.”

For More Information:
Clean Water Action
Kino Border Initiative
Long Island Jobs with Justice
POWER Interfaith
Sarah Christopherson

Jane Sutter is a freelance journalist based in Rochester, N.Y., and is part of NETWORK’s New York Advocates team.